Knights of the Old Republic

When their escape pod crash landed on Taris, the party hurried off the nighttime streets under Carth’s direction. He led them to a hidden Republic safe house. Once no pursuit appeared, Yar and Carth compared what they knew of the planet: a planet-wide metropolis of towering skyscrapers with the privileged humans living in the Upper City and the poor and non-humans living in the slums of the Lower City. Yar added that a human named Davik led the criminal underworld.

From the computer, Horace learned of the planet-wide quarantine established by the Sith starting at 2 hours prior. No ships could enter or leave!

Then next morning, the team planned to head out to figure off this Sith-covered rock. As Yar, opened the door he heard someone yell, “Okay, you alien scum, everybody get up against the wall! This is a raid!” Yar ducked back into the hideout and closed the door.

The party briefly argued about getting involved. Ark Malor advocated for caution, but Yar and Beryl opened the door with blaster and Gaffi stick leading. Two battle droids and a Sith soldier were rapidly dispatched.

The team found a Duros named Jokol mourning over his dead friend, Ixgil. He tearfully thanked the heroes and said he would take care of the Sith body to divert any unwanted attention. Horace drug the battle droids back to the hideout.

From a few bold aliens still in the hallway, the team got fist pumps and “Woots!” Unfortunately, none were particularly helpful with additional information.

Near the elevator to the Upper City street level, the team met a green, male Twi’lek named Larrim. He was a merchant specializing in contraband including several weapons and pieces of equipment that the team bought. Larrim also explained that the planet had been under Sith occupation for a few months but the quarantine was a shocking development. He said that the aliens in this building were all there illegally, as the Upper City was generally human only. A few aliens were allowed with permits but he didn’t know how to get such things. He suggested chatting with the local janitor for more about the Upper City.

Not far off, Kadir, an elderly human pushed a mopstick. He growled at the party for mucking up his floors, but was easily mollified. He then explained that Upper City Cantina was good place for fine drink and gambling, but not particularly open to aliens. The best place to buy equipment was Kebla Yurt’s Equipment Emporium.

Unsure how severe the restrictions would be, the team rode the elevator up to the street level. They peered out over a wide pedestrian boulevard flanked by several ovoid skyscrapers. Several well-to-do human were casually walking the street, including some gawking at a crashed Republic escape pod (belonging to the party) with a few working droids nearby. No aliens could be seen in the Upper City. Two pairs of Sith soldiers were patrolling in the distance with locals being them a wide berth.

The team ducked back into the apartment building and discussed how best to avoid attention and where to head to next.

Adventure SummaryExperience Points: 10 (5 base, 5 for saving Jokol).

Note: I’m going to make a change to one of the ways XP is given. The rules suggest giving 5 XP for roleplaying your Emotional Strength/Weakness. I don’t think this is fair, because some characters have an ES/W that is easier to demonstrate (think cautious Ark Malor or enthusiastic Yar Sneb). Also, I don’t want to penalize players who might be less comfortable with over-the-top acting – although it is Star Wars, so outlandish acting should be rewarded. Therefore, people who ham up their ES/W will get a Destiny Point (that’s those Light and Dark Side tokens that we need to use more readily) specifically for that PC to use during the following session. Next session, I’ll grant one to Ark and Yar.

Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. DARTHMALAK, last surviving apprentice of the Dark Lord Revan, has unleashed an invincible Sith armada upon an unsuspecting galaxy.

Crushing all resistance, Malak’s war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered and vulnerable as countless Knights fall in battle, and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith Master.

In the skies above the Outer Rim world of Taris, a Jedi battle fleet engages the forces of Darth Malak in a desperate effort to halt the Sith’s galactic domination….

Within the room, alarms sounded and the ship shuddered from blaster fire. The bunkmates awakened, including Horace, a bald human mechanic and slicer, Kamp’pibi (AKAKampi), a lavender-skinned female twi’lek smuggler and smooth-talker. The next bunk included Beryl, a trandoshan bodyguard, and Ark Malor, a robed human padawan. The third bed belonged to Yar Sneb, an enthusiastic sullistan smuggler.

While they jumped to their feet, the cabin door slid open. A uniformed Republic soldier entered and said, “We’ve been ambushed by a Sith battle fleet! The Endar Spire is under attack! I’m Trask Ulgo, ensign with the Republic Fleet. Now hurry up, we have to find Bastila! We have to make sure she makes it off the ship alive!”

The squad quickly geared up and as they moved toward the door, their commlinks chirped. The screen showed a dark-haired human pilot. “This is Carth Onasi – the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can’t hold out long against their firepower! All hands to the bridge!”

Trask said to the team, “That was Carth. He’s one of the Republic’s best pilots! He’s seen more combat than the rest of the Endar Spire’s crew put together. If he says things are bad, you better believe it. We have to get to the bridge to help defend Bastila!”

The door led to an empty corridor ending in a closed hatch. The adjacent vidscreen showed 2 Republic soldiers crouching and taking blaster fire.

Horace quickly spliced the access panel and the door slid open. Trask and Yar led with blaster fire and dropped 2 bronze-armored Sith soldiers. A third Sith fell to the combined fire of the others.

One of wounded Republic soldiers said, “I’m Ensign Danik and this is Tem. Thanks for your help. I thought we were dead. We’ll tag along with you until we can get to the escape pods.”

Yar rushed ahead during the introductions and opened the next hatch. Inside were 2 Sith soldiers standing over the corpse of a Republic soldier. Yar hurled a frag grenade into the room and closed the hatch. The blast shook the walls as the squad moved up. They re-opened the hatch and found both enemy soldiers messily dispatched and the room in disarray. Yar managed to find a functional emergency medpac in the destruction.

Once the team was ready, Yar, slightly more cautious then, opened the next hatch. Around a corner, another explosion shook the hall. The squad heard advancing footfalls moments later. They crept forward and found 3 Sith soldiers standing over the bodies of 2 Republic soldiers, clearly dead from a grenade blast. The squad opened fire and Beryl charged into melee with her Gaffi stick. She suffered a grazing blaster wound. The Sith suffered life-ending bludgeoning wounds.

At the last intersection before the bridge, another vidscreen showed a female Jedi dueling a black-robed Sith apprentice. Trask shouted, “It’s a dark Jedi! This fight is too much for us – we better stay back. All we’ll do is get in the way.” During their indecision, the Jedi defeated her dark foe only to be the center of an explosion that also destroyed the vidscreen’s camera.

Trask growled. “That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila. Damn, we could have used her help!” Then he called Carth on his commlink and explained what happened. Carth replied, “You’ve got to get to the bridge. Bastila might still be there. And if not, you know what you need to do."

The team opened the hatch and entered a smoke cloud. Blaster fire revealed 2 Sith soldiers taking cover behind the next intersection. Beryl and Kampi closed and gunned them down.

Ark Malor was able to recover half of the Jedi’s lightsaber housing, which included a balanced hilt modification. Unfortunately, the crystal within was shattered.

Danik chimed in. “We don’t have any more fight in us.” Both wounded soldiers ran toward the remaining port-side escape pod. The squad bravely pressed on despite the easy out.

The team finally stood at the hatch for the bridge. Trask entered some codes and the door slid open. Three Sith soldiers and a lieutenant stood in front of the windshield. There was no sign of Bastila or any living Republic soldiers. With carefully aimed blaster shots, the soldiers were defeated easily.

Both Trask and Kampi sat at active consoles. Kampi overrode the ship’s autopilot and locked a course on the nearest Sith capital ship, while Trask set the Endar Spire to self-destruct.

Then, Trask encouraged everyone to move to the remaining starboard escape pod, since Bastila was obviously gone. Then, behind the squad the bridge hatch opened and another dark Jedi stepped in with several Sith soldiers. Trask yelled, “I’ll try to hold him off. You get to the escape pod! Go!” Then he slammed the hatch leaving the stunned team alone in the corridor.

Carth, via the commlinks, advised the team to keep moving. Once at the next hatch, he said, “Be careful! There’s a whole squad of Sith Troopers on the other side of that door! You need to find some way to thin their numbers.”

Horace was able to repair a damaged combat droid and prepare it to attack. He also sliced into a security panel and rigged the transport module room next door to overload the power conduit. This caused a deadly shock to several nearby Sith. Then, the droid entered and blasted several stunned soldiers. When Ark Malor peaked inside, only a red-armored Sith heavy trooper was standing. Heavy blaster fire lanced down the hall but the trooper fell to the combined fire of the team.

The next door led to the escape pod chamber. Carth was also there. He said, “You made it just in time! There’s only one active escape pod left. Come on, we can hide out on the planet below! Maybe we’ll find Bastila there.”

The squad plus Carth jettisoned from the Spire and watched as she closed with the Sith armada. Just as the windows turned red from entering the planet’s atmosphere, a huge explosion filled the escape pod’s rear windows.

Adventure Summary

Experience Points: 20 (15 for getting to the bridge, 5 for getting to the starboard escape pod)

Note: In the future, playing to you character’s Emotional Strength/Weakness in a dramatically obvious way will likely grant additional XP. For example, Yar’s brash advancement on the next room while the party was chatting with Republic soldiers would actually be rewarded. (Hard to believe, I know.)